INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee has approved the 11 game officials recommended by Penny Davis, the national coordinator of officiating, to work Friday’s two national semifinal games and Sunday’s national championship game. A three-person crew will work each Women’s Final Four game, while two officials will serve as the standby officials for all three contests.
The NCAA has notified these 11 individuals that they have been selected to work the 2022 Women’s Final Four, which will be played at the Target Center in New Minneapolis:
- Melissa Barlow, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Tiffany Bird, Bountiful, Utah
- Gina D. Cross, Clearwater, Florida
- Maj Kazuko Forsberg, Honolulu, Hawaii
- Dee Kantner, Charlotte, North Carolina
- Michael McConnell, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Michol Murray, Chandler, Arizona
- Kevin Pethtel, Fairmont, West Virginia
- Pualani Spurlock-Welsh, Greenville, Pennsylvania
- Angelica Suffren, Atlanta, Georgia
- Joseph Vaszily, Westfield, New Jersey
“Only 11 officials of the roughly 800 across women’s Division I women’s basketball gain this honor, and 116 are selected to work the national tournament,” said Davis. “Our tournament pool of officials has put forth many great performances throughout the rounds leading up to our Final Four. These 11 officials were extremely impressive throughout the tournament, and are not only equipped, but also very deserving of the honor to work on the biggest stage in women’s basketball. They are the example of the standards that all officials should aspire. I have the utmost confidence in each of them and am thrilled for their selection.”
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Kantner will be officiating her 25th Women’s Final Four, while Barlow has been selected for a tenth time. This will be the ninth time for Vaszily and fifth for Forsberg. McConnell, Cross and Murray will be officiating for a third time and this will make a second selection for Spurlock-Welsh. This will be the first Women’s Final Four for Bird, Suffren and Pethtel.
Friday’s first semifinal features the Greensboro regional champion and overall No. 1 seed South Carolina facing off with No. 1 seed and Wichita regional champion Louisville. Both South Carolina and Louisville are making their fourth appearances in the Women’s Final Four. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. central time. The second semifinal game, which is scheduled to tip at 9:30 p.m., will feature No. 1 seed, Spokane regional champion and defending national champion Stanford against No. 2 seed and Bridgeport regional champion UConn. The game will mark a record-setting 22nd appearance for the Huskies and a 15th showing for the Cardinal. Both games will be shown on ESPN.
The officiating assignments for each semifinal game, as well as Sunday night’s national championship game, will be announced three hours before each game.
